The luckier ones, those with visas,
leave for Canada or Europe. However, the large majority
of people travel to the American coast - which they try to
reach on "lucky" boats - and especially to the Dominican
Republic, with which Haiti shares the island of
Hispaniola. Unfortunately, both Florida and Haiti’s
Dominican neighbour, for different reasons, are more of
a snare than an Eldorado.
On January 5th 2000, nearly 400 stowaways were
repatriated to Haiti by the American coastguard. It is
thought that ten of them died either during the crossing
or trying to reach the shore. Haitians living in the United
States feel that American policies are fundamentally
racist and that they favour Cuban refugees. In fact, the
United States fear that in the end the tensions that
exist, and which are likely to be exacerbated during the
election period, will lead to a new wave of people leaving
for Florida.
Haitians who leave for the United States are fleeing their
country’s poverty. The fact that they are considered to
be refugees for economical rather than political reasons
explains why they have less chances of staying on US
soil. Moreover, unlike with the Cubans, there are few
Haitians who are American nationals, who have
sufficient political influence, and who are united enough
to represent the interests of their country’s migrant
population.
Getting to the Dominican Republic is simpler because its
border is easier to cross. But doing so can lead to more
tragic consequences. Haitian emigrants to the
Dominican Republic have always been a source of
tension between the two countries, especially since
1937, when 17,000 Haitians were massacred under
dictator Trujillo’s government. The Dominican
authorities regularly deport Haitians, and the
deportations are marked by violence, roundups and
families being separated. Temporary immigrants are far
from being the only victims of excessive repatriation and
exploitation on the bateys (agricultural settlements).
Such action is also directed at settled immigrants,
children of Haitians born in the Dominican Republic, and
black Dominicans.
A combined commission, established in 1996 with
representatives of both countries, has been unable to
find any long-term solutions. The commission lacks a
mechanism to mediate between the two countries and
this evidences a gap between the Haitian and
Dominican positions on the issue at hand; an issue that
is far from resolved. Haiti has therefore asked the
Dominican Republic to set up a procedure to ensure
sufficient warning is given before each repatriation, but
the Dominican authorities have not taken this demand
seriously. Besides, the problem of regulating the
residence status of illegal immigrants still needs to be
solved.
NGOs and intergovernmental bodies often expose the
situation of immigrants in the Dominican Republic:
inhuman working environments; unhealthy housing
conditions; limited freedom of movement; constant
surveillance by armed guards; threats; and physical
violence. For years, there was actual slavery: future
emigrants were brought into the Dominican Republic by
smugglers and then literally sold. This system is no
longer in operation, but the situation of the immigrants
remains almost unchanged. Because Haitian workers
and their families lack civil status (only 5% of the 500,000
Haitians living in the Dominican Republic have the
nationality of their adoptive country), access to social
services and education is almost non-existent.
Children born to illegal immigrants in the Dominican
Republic are stateless. This is in contravention of the
basic rights in the Dominican constitution. With no
citizenship from either country, they become, like their
parents, part of a work force at the mercy and prey of a
government with no scruples. Indeed, the sugar industry
that employs the majority of Haitians is controlled by a
state body.
The debate on immigration and the Haitian minority is an
open one in the Dominican Republic, notably following a
report by the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights, published in October 19991. Nonetheless, in
October and November 1999, for the second time in three
years2, the Dominican government carried out mass
deportations of Haitians. The agreements that are
regularly signed between Port-au-Prince and Santo-
Domingo on immigration issues (the last one being in
December 1999) are being ignored.
To understand why Haitians are leaving their country, we
need to remind ourselves of the specific difficulties the
country is facing. Haiti is currently going through a severe
institutional crisis. It has been without a legislature for
more than a year. The current Prime Minister, Jean-
Edouard Alexis (who belongs to the " Lavalas Family ", the
party of the former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide), is
facing opposition both because his election was not in
line with the constitution and because of his poor
performance at the head of the government. The political
set-up is broken up into a multitude of political groupings,
the main opposition party being the Party of the People’s
Struggle (PFP) led by Gerard Pierre-Charles3. This
paralysis has already led to the loss of several million
dollars of international aid. Further consequences of this
crisis are a slowing down of structural reform, a worsening
of the economic and social situation and a growing
exodus of Haitians.
Local and general elections to elect the Chamber of
Deputies and two thirds of the Senate are set for
March. In the space of a year and a half, the general
election has been postponed three times. Some suspect
that President Preval in fact wants to wait until December
2000, so that his party can gain control of Parliament on
the back of the presidential elections. Whatever
happens, the country will need more than the elections to
get it out of its stalemate. The majority of Haitians are in
fact indifferent, judging that their political leaders are
unable to solve their problems.
Economic and social rights are very badly administered in
this country whose economy is apathetic and where the
standard of living is one of the lowest in the world.
Unemployment is in the region of 50 to 70%. Although the
army was demobilised in 1995, it has not yet been
disarmed, which has lead to a large number of arms
circulating freely in the country. Furthermore, Haiti has
become a transitional country for drug trafficking in the
Caribbean.
These three elements - unemployment, arms and drugs -
help fuel the violence, which is becoming " privatised ": it
is no longer carried out only by the army or the police, but
by " militant " politicians and gangsters. The new civilian
police seem strangely short of funds and personnel to
lead their mission effectively. Above all, the severely
corrupt legal system seems incapable of dealing with
crime, as a result of which nearly 90% of prisoners held
are in preventive detention, and some since 1995. As
long as the reform of the police and legal system is not
completed, Haitians’ rights will remain unprotected.
Due to the presence of international organisations, the
level of violence carried out by state bodies has
decreased. The United Nations’ General Assembly has
also extended the mandate of the ICMSH (International
Civil Mission to Support Haiti) to February 2001. Its
main tasks are supporting the police, reforming the
legal system and protecting human rights.
Nevertheless, the weakness of central power and
recurring political tensions (especially in the
Southwest), do not create an environment conducive to
respecting human rights and hinder the rapid setting up
of a truly legal state.
Haiti is in a catch-22 situation. On the one hand, the
institutional void worries the international sponsors and
does not encourage economic growth. On the other
hand, while the social and economic pointers are still in
the red, crime rates on are on the increase and political
settlements are multiplying. As a result, the number of
Haitians who want to leave at whatever cost is high.
Democracy and respect for human rights in Haiti are still
at an early stage, and more than ever, their future
seems jeopardised.
Paulin Régnard
Footnotes :
1. Report on the Situation of Human Rights in the Dominican Republic, Commission interaméricaine des droits de l’Homme, 7 octobre 1999
2. The last expulsions took place in the first month of the year 1997.
3. The OPL and «Lavalas Family» parties were originally part of Père Aristide Lavalas mouvement but are since 1997, in total disagreement with it for reasons that are both personal and political.